alchemy

Alchemy is defined as the process of taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary, sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

An example of using alchemy is a person who takes a pile of scrap metal and turns it into beautiful art.

When watching a movie and a wizard turns a toad into a beautiful woman, it is an example of alchemy.

The definition of alchemy is a type of science and philosophy from the Middle Ages which attempted to perform successful experiments of the unusual, such as trying to make gold from metals.

An example of alchemy are the scientists of the Middle Ages who tried to discover a way to use metals such as mercury and sulfur – to make interesting combinations and attempt to turn them into gold.

An example of alchemy are the scientists of today who use lasers in order to change aluminum and other metals to black, red, or a variety of other colors.

alchemy

noun

an early form of chemistry, with philosophic and magical associations, studied in the Middle Ages: its chief aims were to change base metals into gold and to discover the elixir of perpetual youth

a power or process of changing one thing into another; esp., a seemingly miraculous power or process of changing a thing into something better

Origin of alchemy

Middle English alchymie ; from Old French alchimie ; from Medieval Latin alchemia ; from Arabic al-kīmiyāʾ ; from Classical Greek chēmeia ; from uncertain or unknown; perhaps Chēmia, old name for Egyptian ; from Egyptian kmt, literally , black (land); influenced, influence by folk-etym. associated, association with Classical Greek cheein, to pour: see found

alchemy

A medieval chemical philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity.

A seemingly magical power or process of transmuting: “He wondered by what alchemy it was changed, so that what sickened him one hour, maddened him with hunger the next”(Marjorie K. Rawlings).

Origin of alchemy

Middle English alkamie, from Old French alquemie, from Medieval Latin alchymia, from Arabic al-kīmiyā’ : al-, the + kīmiyā’, chemistry (from Late Greek khēmeia, probably alteration of khumeia, from Greek khein, khu-, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots (influenced, owing to the reputation of Egyptian alchemists, by Greek Khēmiā, Egypt, from Egyptian kmt, Egypt, from feminine of km, black, in reference to the black soil of the Nile valley)).

Related Forms:

al·chem′i·cal , al·chem′ic

adjective

al·chem′i·cal·ly

adverb

alchemy

arcanum
the secret of life; a great elixir or remedy sought by the alchemists. See also knowledge.
elixir1. the hypothetical substance sought by alchemists that was believed to transform base metals into gold and give eternal life. Also called philosopher’s stone, elixir of life.2.Rare. the quintessence or underlying principle. See also remedies.
Hermeticism11. the occult concepts, ideas, or philosophy set forth in the writings of the hermeticists of the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance.
2. adherence to, belief in, or propagation of these concepts and ideas.
3.Literature. a symbolic and arcane style similar to that of the hermeticists, especially in the poetry of certain French symbolist poets. Cf. hermetics. —hermeticist, hermetist,n. —hermetic, hermetical,adj.hermeticism1. the ideas or beliefs set forth in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus.
2. adherence to these ideas and beliefs.
hermetics
the occult sciences, especially alchemy. Cf. Hermeticism1. —hermetist,n. —hermetic, hermetical,adj.iatrochemistry1. originally, alchemy devoted to medicinal purposes, especially the alchemy of the period 1525-1660, influenced by the theories of Paracelsus.
2. currently, chemistry for healing purposes. —iatrochemist,n.spagyrist
an alchemist.
transmutation
the process or act of change, especially from one thing to another, as the change from base metal to gold, pursued by the alchemists. —transmutationist,n. —transmutative,adj.transmutationist
an alchemist who believed that, in one of several ways, it was possible to change less valuable elements into silver or gold.

alchemy

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural alchemies)

(uncountable) The ancient search for a universal panacea, and of the philosopher's stone, that eventually developed into chemistry.

alchemy - Computer Definition

An early, unscientific form of chemistry practiced in the Middle Ages with aims including turning base metals into gold and discovering the elixir of perpetual youth, a universal cure for disease, and a universal solvent. Many alchemists were intelligent, well-meaning men and even distinguished scientists. Sir Isaac Newton, for example, was an alchemist. Pair-gain technologies such as ADSL do not involve alchemy, although sometimes they are characterized as turning copper into gold. See also pair-gain.

Sentence Examples

In the later years of his life he turned to the study of the earlier phases of the science which he did so much to advance, and students of chemical history are greatly indebted to him for his book on Les Origines de l'alchimie (1885) and his Introduction a l'etude de la chimie des anciens et du moyen age (1889), as well as for publishing translations of various old Greek, Syriac and Arabic treatises on alchemy and chemistry (Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, 1887-1888, and La Chimie au moyen age, 1893).

He wrote at least one treatise on alchemy, but several others have been falsely attributed to him.

Among the Merchiston papers is a thin quarto volume in Robert Napier's writing containing a digest of the principles of alchemy; it is addressed to his son, and on the first leaf there are directions that it is to remain in his charter-chest and be kept secret except from a few.

Having at last got into trouble with the authorities he fled from Sicily, and visited in succession Greece, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Rhodes - where he took lessons in alchemy and the cognate sciences from the Greek Althotas - and Malta.

He published several pieces bearing on medicine, astrology and alchemy, and attacking the system of Paracelsus.